Playing God
by A Girl In NYC
Summary: Chesapeake is in Cobb's crew. Saito requests that final mission for the crew; but with her dark past, it will twist her life upside down & make her realize that she can't hide in her dreams, & that she is responsible to face reality. Fischer/OC/Arthur
1. Someone Wake Me Up

[1] **Someone Wake Me Up**

"_Wake me up_!" I screamed the loudest my lungs would allow, alarmed. My eyes were tightly closed in anxiety, "Wake me up!"  
The dream, or nightmare, was recurring.

Cobb tells me it's bad to retrieve and project memories into dreams. He once said to me: "Never recreate from your memory. Always imagine new places." He says my dream is just a dream, complex & disturbing. In my eyes, a nightmare. This dream, or nightmare, is always recurring. It never stops. It starts over and over each night, replaying in my head like a broken record. Arthur warned me that I can't keep this up, it's unhealthy and it will affect my work performance. I agreed with him. My eyes flashed open. I realized I was laying on a lawn chair in Cobb's working area, the IV in my arm was gently stuck in my skin, the IV connected to the machine. I blinked a few times. My heart was beating so fast, thumping faster every second.

In this nightmare, I always was in the same hotel room; chairs and broken glasses strewn across the expensive carpeting, a bottle of Marque Auxiliaire champagne sprawled across the floor in pieces. A candle burns by the window. The New York City night lights was always in the background outside the beautiful, large stone open window. He was always there in this nightmare. He stood across from me, I was sitting down on the comfortable, expensive couch, feeling the breeze coming in from the open window that revealed New York City.

He seemed disappointed and irritated at me, looking at me with his blue irises, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I don't know," I attempted to explain, holding the end of my black cocktail dress tightly, which ended slightly before my knees. He looked down at me with a paternal glare, and I stammered, "I didn't think you would accept it. I assumed you'd run. You have enough to suffice with right now."

"Jesus, Ches. Something like that you should tell me about! You let me believe some bullshit. What do you think I am? I can't _believe_ you thought I would run." His voice rises, causing me to cringe. He's authoritive, and he's angry. I know I should've told him, because it was his responsibility to know. A fight uprises between us; an angry screaming match ensues.

Arthur reached up and brushed the blond streaks of hair from my eyes, gently grasping my forearm and giving it a little shake, and said urgently, "Ches, it's over. Hey, c'mon, breathe. Come on, Ches, focus. I'm right here...Look at me."

Alarmed, I looked at him, panicked. I breathed heavy, inhaling & exhaling. I could feel my lungs working hard at breathing. I shut my eyes again, trying to regain myself, lying back and breathing. He helped me prop myself up and sit up properly on the chair. He fixed the IV in my arm and yanked it out, now between his thumb and index finger, held it up for me to see. Arthur reached across me and placed two fingers on the left side of my neck, to check my pulse. It thumped fast & swift on his fingers. He removed them after forty said gently, "Jesus, Chesapeake. Easy, calm yourself."

"I know, I know," I huffed lightly, "I'm sorry."

Arthur was going to interrogate me about this dream, but Dominic "Dom" Cobb stormed in the room, leading along the young girl who must have been the new crew member to replace our last "architect", Nash, who had intently failed on our last mission. Cobb was stern and to himself sometimes, but was the leader of our crew. This new girl, who would make the second girl on our team, including me, was pale with dark, long black hair and an intellectual, honest face. She didn't look a day over twenty.

Cobb had troubles with his past, much like I did, but his was far more disturbing & severe. Cobb revealed to me when I first joined the crew three years ago, when I was twenty, that he and his wife, Mal, spent what felt to them like decades in a limbo dream world forging their lives. After waking, Mal remained convinced that she was still in a dream and committed suicide, trying to force Cobb to join her which consequently incriminated him in her death. Cobb refused to kill himself, afterwards fleeing from America and his kids, James & Phillipa, to avoid murder charges.

The reason for the recent mission was to help Saito, an important corporate in the business world. He had asked Cobb if we performed the act of inception; secretly implanting an idea in the mind of a person. Saito promised Cobb would be reunited with his kids and his work would be over. At first, Arthur & I had told Cobb to just walk away from the offer, that Saito could be lying. But after a while it didn't seem like a bad idea. Not that Cobb would've listened otherwise, being the stubborn man he was.

As for me, my story isn't as disturbing or heartbreaking as Cobb's. When I was about to turn twenty-one, I was hired by Cobb to work on his crew as the Distractor. I could extract real life situations and implant them into a dream as a distracton for the victim/dreamer. Right now, Arthur was the one who really cared about me. I was closer to him than anybody. He had a sarcastic sense of humor, snarky, & sometimes ignorant. But he was professional and knew how to get the job done and over with.

Arthur and I were extremely close friends rather than dating, it was comfortable that way. Dating was something I feared after _him_.  
I was in a relationship in the past that violently spiraled downward and caused the dream that haunted every space in my mind...  
Cobb interruppted my thoughts & said, gesturing to the girl, "The new architect, Ariadne."

"Chesapeake," I shook her hand, and slightly smiled. "Everyone calls me Ches."

**A/N :: **My attempt at an _Inception _fanfic. I'm going to follow the storyline of the movie, just inserting my OC into it.  
Please **review** if you like it, but please don't flame!


	2. It's Not A Dream

[2] **It's Not A Dream**

"Cobb has some serious issues he needs to work out, and I'm not exactly sure you two are aware of that. I'm going."

Ariadne stormed out of the work area, out the door. She had finally met Mal, and after Cobb's wife's attempt at stabbing Ariadne, she wasn't so positive she wanted to work with someone so unstable as Cobb. I stood there with Arthur, as we both watched out after her.  
"She'll come back." Arthur shrugged, "They always do."

"It's just too much information for one sitting. I know how she feels," I shrugged, focusing on tying up and collecting the IV cords and putting them in the compartments into the suitcase. "God knows I had a hard time with it."

"Ches, you had a reason to. You have the same dream over and over," Arthur looked at me knowingly, but I avoided his gaze as I continued to pack up the suitcase, "It's haunted you ever since. You and Cobb are more alike than you realize. And you need to stop dreaming about him. He didn't even think you were good enough for him."

I nodded, looking up to Arthur desperately, "It's getting worse, the dream..."

"I have a meeting with Eames." Cobb waltzed in, interrupting, hands shoved in his pockets, a slightly annoyed gaze on his face.  
I rolled my eyes. Eames, the British bloke who teased Arthur and poked fun at me. He was like an older brother to me, and I was glad he was back on the team. After an hour or so after Cobb left, Ariadne walked in again.

She smiled at Arthur and me, "I didn't really want to come back, but..."  
"...There's nothing quite like it," Arthur finished for her, flashing a smug smile.

"Too much creativity gone to waste, if I didn't take the oppurtunity." Ariadne replied, smiling.  
"Let's look at some architecture for practice, shall we?" Arthur suggested.

Within a few moments, we were hooked up into Arthur's dream world, in a modern building with never-ending staircases.  
Arthur explained everything about the formation of suddenly-ending staircases, and finally how Mal had died, that she wasn't real, just a projection of Cobb's subconscious.

I smoothed out my old grey cardigan, pushed a strand of hair out of my face, and climbed up the ladder of the fire escape, up to the roof of Cobb's workplace. Eames, Saito, Arthur, Ariadne, Cobb and Yusurf, the man in charge of sedating us to be able to dive deeper into farther dream levels, sat there around a table, talking about the mission. I didn't even know what exactly we were doing, who we were performing inception on.

"Ah, Ches! Darling," Eames smugly smirked, "About time."  
Cobb looked at me questionably, his eyes saying, 'why are you late, Ches?'

"Sorry," I mumbled and stood next to Arthur's plastic armchair, attempting to pay attention now.  
Arthur smiled up at me, quietly taking my hand in his.

"Now that your team has finally arrived," Saito's accent was thick, "We can get down to business."  
"Yes, what exactly is our mission again?" Ariadne spoke the words that had been on my mind for three days now.

"My corporation could be on the verge of going out of business, due to a war between me and my terminally ill rival," Saito explained, "And I want you to get into the mind of his son. To plant an idea that when his father dies, he will let the company die, too. To let my corporation overule his."

I felt a shock in my system. Something didn't feel quite right. Something was too familiar.

Saito slapped a manila folder on the makeshift, unsturdy pop-up table.  
Eames flipped it open. "Maurice Fischer?" Eames said slowly, "And his son, Robert Fischer Jr.?"

A few pairs of eyes shot up at me. Eames, Arthur, and Cobb glanced wide-eyed at me. I avoided eye contact. Arthur released my hand from his grasp, out of shock. "Why do you three look so panicked?" Ariadne replied to the awkward silence.

"Something wrong?" Saito inquired. Yusurf looked confused.  
"Nothing," I snapped at no one in particular.

"Chesapeake," Cobb started patiently, sounding like a ticked-off father.  
"No, Dom. It's fine." I attempted to sound firm, but my voice almost cracked.

"Ches," Arthur said quietly, grabbing hold of my hand again and giving it a squeeze.  
"The objective is to make Fischer dismantle his father's business empire, to prevent it from becoming a global energy monopoly." Saito replied.

"How's his relationship with his father?" Eames wondered aloud.  
"Shitty," I mumbled, regretting saying anything afterwards. All eyes looked at me.

"Not that promising, according to this file." Arthur answered, attempting to turn the attention away from me.  
"I'll investigate," Eames grinned.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Is this going to affect your work performance during the inception?" Cobb questioned me. I had been walking by Cobb's working area. He had just woken from a dream and had caught me while leaving. I walked up and sat beside him, he was lying on a lawn chair and I sat on his work chair.

"Is it?" Cobb asked, reading my sullen expression, "This is the last chance. We can't afford a failure."  
I shook my head, "I don't really know. With these dreams..."

"We aren't going into your mind," Cobb explained, "So do you think you can control it in someone else's?"  
I nodded, "I just have to put the personal issues away."

"Ches, I know he's your weakness. You've told me everything.  
I understand. But I never thought we'd have a job that ever came close to him." Cobb replied.

I nodded, "I know."

It was Monday. I had been out with Saito & Arthur when we finally arrived back at Cobb's workplace. Robert Fischer Jr.'s father had died, and Saito wanted to move fast. We walked into the work warehouse, where Cobb & Ariadne just had woken.

"Fischer Sr. is dead," Saito informed Cobb and Ariadne, "The funeral is Thursday, he'll be on the flight Tuesday."

"We have to move fast," Arthur added, gesturing to the door.  
When we got to the airport, we all glared out at this plane. It was a trans-Pacific flight.

"This could be hard," Ariadne said, "It's most likely private."  
"We'd have to buy out the first-class flight attendants, pilot. Make sure no one is in first class but us and Fischer." Arthur added.

"I bought out the entire airline," Saito chimned in smugly.  
We all looked at him questionably.  
"It seemed neater," He shrugged.

I bit my lip so hard I thought it was going to split open. We were ready to board the airplane.

"Are you ready?" Arthur asked. "I would say you don't have to do this, but Cob-"  
"I'm fine," I huffed, then looked up at Arthur, "I can do this."

_The leap of faith._


	3. Beautiful Nightmare

**A/N : **Thank you to the reviewers! All of them are appreciated.  
Hopefully you like this chapter, and the little twist at the end.  
If not...please don't flame! :)

[3] **Beautiful Nightmare**

I inhaled, Arthur taking my hand in his and kissing me on the cheek reassuringly.  
I turned on him and pressed my lips against his desperately. I didn't want to do this.

I swallowed hard, anxiety & nervousness pumping through my veins like an electric shock. "C'mon." Arthur said soothingly, gently nudging me to the entrance of the airplane. I nodded, having him go first. I was the last person in the small, high-tech first class cabin, and I swore I felt a shock shoot through my veins up to my heart. I glanced, my face flushed, at _him_. He didn't see me yet, his back was turned.

I had dressed up a little bit for the first-class flight;  
I wore a dark green ruffled casual dress that ended a little before the knee with modest ruffles at the bottom, a top that covered my collarbone, my lanky, light blond hair braided with my bangs to the side of my face, and a black headband. A necklace that Arthur gave me was hooked around my neck and Forever 21 short gladiator sandals strapped to my feet.  
Cobb wanted us to look professional. That was my idea of dressing up.

"Ches, sweetheart." Arthur called me to sit down in the seat in front of him quietly, his masculine voice sounded tired.  
At the sound my nickname & an intimate name along with it said by another man, Fischer, who had his back turned, whipped around.  
I froze; his handsome blue eyes that haunted me every dream looked me up and down.  
I felt like I was going to be sick.

& the dream flooded my mind, again. Even when I was awake. Everything coming back again.  
The violent yelling fights, the arguments. The heartbroken day that almost killed me.

"Chesapeake?" Fischer looked at me, surprised. He was so handsome.  
He had attractive brown hair, bright blue eyes, an attractive voice & a masculine jawline.  
I hadn't seen him in three years

Since he was so wealthy, he always thought I couldn't afford anything. He was always like that.  
Of course he was surprised that I was in first class and dressed in expensive clothes.

"Robert?" I choked out, attempting to act surprised. I could feel Arthur & Cobb's eyes on me, but I ignored it.  
I had to pull this off. I was on this mission of inception as the Distractor, but this time I was the distraction.  
I had to encounter Fischer in real life and then be used as a distraction in his dream.

"You're...you're on this flight? To Los Angeles?" Fischer questioned, looking slightly suspicious.  
I bit my lip & attempted to avoid eye contact, but there was no way I could look away from his eyes.  
The eyes that watched me when I cried and the eyes that had seen everything I went through.

"Yes," I improvised, dragging out the beginning of the sentence "I'm on my way to check out a house in Santa Monica."  
He took a swift & extremely quick, disapproving glance at Arthur. He thought I was moving in with Arthur, assuming he was my boyfriend.  
"That's - that's wonderful," Fischer's words of enthusiasm about the lie about me moving in with Arthur were forced.

"Robert, I'm really sorry about your father," I added in.  
"You know how he was, Ches. Not too friendly or sociable. Never really paid too much attention to me. Or you, when I brought you home. I was always mad about that last part." Fischer admitted.

I almost smiled, but restrained myself, remembering the first time Fischer brought me home.  
I had almost nothing and Robert had almost everything.  
Yet he still thought I was good enough & never doubted me.

I touched his hand, a intimate gesture that even surprised myself, "He loved you."  
"I hope so." He glanced at the ground and was silent a second and then to me,  
"You look amazing, Ches. Really. I can't believe we're on the same flight."

Something inside me sparked when he called me _Ches_, a nickname originated by him.  
I never thought I'd actually ever see him again, so I just wanted to cling to him and never let go.  
Nevertheless, I reminded myself that I needed to ignore my feelings & regret, to just get this damn job done.

"I know. Small world, right?" I said nonchalantly, "You would never expect me to be in first class, right?"  
He knowingly smirked at me, used to my sarcastic moments.  
I smiled smugly and patted him on the cheek, Arthur calling me over again.  
He looked after me as I walked away, smirking to himself.  
I sighed, relieved, as I walked to Arthur and I felt like I was going to cry, but I sucked in my gut and calmed myself down.

The stewardess came around for drinks. I watched as Cobb and Fischer talked for a second.  
The plan was that Cobb give Fischer his passport, start a conversation, and drug his water.  
Success.

He was asleep. We moved fast, everyone tugging out the IV cords and getting ready to perform inception.  
Arthur grabbed a cord for me and kissed my lips & afterwards murmured, "You were fine. Please relax."

I half-smiled at him and let him fumble with the IV, stick it in my wrist.  
Eventually I drifted off into sleep as the stewardess pressed the button in the suticase.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

A rainy cityscape, Yusurf's dream. I was standing in the pouring rain in the same outfit as in reality, waiting for Cobb's car to pull up.  
Cobb, Ariadne & I would meet the guys at the warehouse.  
Eames, Saito & Arthur would hold Fischer in a taxi with a gun threatening him.

Cobb's car pulled up and I climbed in the backseat.  
"Nice job facing him, Ches." Cobb said, his eyes watching me in the rearview mirror.  
I smiled in thanks, but focused as we picked up Ariadne and she slid in next to me.  
"Go, Cobb." I muttered, urging him to follow Arthur in the stolen taxi.

"Chesapeake." Ariadne asked quietly, looking at me carefully.  
I took my eyes off of the windshield and looked at her in question.

"What happened between you and Fischer in the past that could "ruin" this mission?" She asked lightly.  
Jeez, this girl liked to get into everyone's past.

We really didn't have time for this.  
But if she was honestly that curious, why the hell not?

"Ariadne," I glanced at her with a serious expression, "I was pregnant with his child."


	4. Invade My Dreams

[4] **Invade My Dreams**

Ariadne gawked at me. I saw Cobb looking straight & focusing on driving - he'd heard this story before, so it was nothing new to him.  
"You said you were only twenty-one before you joined the team-" Ariadne attempted, but I cut in, "I know. I was twenty when I found out."  
"I joined this team to escape everything at first, because I could perform extractions," I continued, "After a while, however, it didn't stop it."  
Ariadne bit her lip, "Does Arthur know?"

I nodded slightly, "I told him when I first joined. Eames, Cobb, & Arthur know. And now you."  
I sat back against the leather backseat of the car, fidgeting with the hem of the dress I wore, nervously.  
"I just - how could it?" Ariadne was trying to search for the right words.  
What she most likely really wanted to say was, "Why did you get pregnant at 20 years old?"  
"It was an accident," I murmured, looking outside at this dreamed up rainy city. "We never intended it to happen..."  
The memory came back to me as I explained it to Ariadne.

()()()()()  
()()()()()

"Dammit! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Fischer had asked, his eyes burning holes in my skin, his voice serious & stern.  
I felt the breeze of the city come through the window and brush against my bare back in the black cocktail dress.

I had stood up, meeting eye-level with him & had said hopelessly, "I don't know. I didn't think you would accept it. I assumed you'd leave. You have enough to take care of right now, never mind a baby. And the news would be all over you if they found out you knocked up a twenty year old girl you weren't even engaged to."

"Jesus, Ches. Something like that you should tell me about! You let me believe some bullshit, that you were sick while you were actually pregnant all this time? I can't _believe_ you thought I would leave you. Why would I? And I don't give a shit what the news tells anybody." He had snapped.

"See? When I found out I _knew_ you'd be pissed!" I snapped back at him.  
"I'm pissed? No, I'm far past pissed. You lied to me about being pregnant, Ches!" He raised his voice.

"You know, it's not easy for me, okay? I'm not even ready to have a baby yet." I snipped at him.  
"Well there isn't much we can do about that, is there?" Fischer retorted, "So what do you suggest we do?"  
He knew I was against abortion, and he even knew that wasn't an option.

"I don't know," I muttered, slouching back on the couch miserably. "There's nothing really we can do."  
He sighed, accepting it, running a hand through his hair & he sat down next to me, "I guess I have the oppurtonity of being a father then."

"I'm not ready." I sighed hopelessly.  
He brought me into him, and I quietly cried into the crook of his neck.  
My arms linked around his neck, as he stroked my hair to calm me down.

()()()()()  
()()()()()

"And he just accepted it," I explained to Ariadne, who was intently listening.  
Before she could ask another question, a huge, monstrous noise was heard from behind.  
Ariadne & I spun around to look through the back window.  
A giant freight train was snaking through the traffic, going right by us.  
"Cobb, this wasn't part of my design!" Ariadne yelped, but Cobb was in shock looking out the window.  
"Cobb!" She tried again.

"Fischer's mind has been trained by an extractor to defend against invasions." Cobb muttered, then handed me a gun.  
"What's this for?" I shouted over the noise of the train and screeching wheels behind us.  
"THEM!" Cobb shouted back, and I whipped around to see multiple men coming in cars and on foot with guns. Shooting at us.  
I rolled down the window and carefully but quickly stuck my arm out, took a few shots, and came back in.  
"Dom, there's too many of them. Drive as fast as you can to the warehouse!" I yelped.

The mercenary forces were in hot pursuit as Cobb drove the car faster than I'd ever seen him.  
While driving, he ducked multiple times from bullets and yelled for us to do the same.  
Eventually after two minutes, we glided swiftly into the garage of the warehouse, following the taxi the carried Saito, Eames, Arthur & Fischer.

Arthur slammed the door of the taxi, frustrated.  
He & Yusurf both carried Saito out of the taxi, where we discovered he was in unbearable pain & had a bullet in the left side of his chest.

Cobb began yelling at Arthur, "How did you not see this coming? That Fischer had training to prevent extractors from breaking into his mind, and having a militarized subconscious that will find the invaders and destroy them? This was your responsibility!"

"Well, let's put him out of his misery." Eames shrugged, cocking his handgun and pointing it at Saito in order to wake him up.  
"Don't do that!" Cobb yelled.  
"Chill out, Cobb." Eames defended Arthur and himself, but Dom was yelling at him, too.  
"It's not something that should be messed with! Now Saito's injured and killing someone in this dream will not wake them up!"

All of us exchanged frightened & surprised looks.  
"Cobb, what are you talking about?" Ariadne asked.

Cobb sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Because of the strong sedative required to build stable dreams within dreams, dying within the dream won't wake us up. Instead it will condemn us to a state of limbo where we will be unable to establish the difference between dreams and reality, and eventually become insane. I've experienced firsthand."

Arthur looked pissed, Eames was so mad he was smiling in disbelief.  
My jaw dropped, "You can't be serious."  
"He's damn well serious." Arthur snapped at Cobb, but answered my question, "I can't believe you. Where you in on this?" He turned to Yusurf, "How much did he promise you? Half his share?"  
Yusurf shook his head, "All of it."

"That's great. Just great." Arthur said, irritated, "Now we're stuck in Fischer's mind and we'll be dropped in limbo if we fail."  
"If we fail, we'll be killed. No doubt." Cobb sighed, after a moment throwing a black hockey mask at Arthur.  
I glared at both of them when Cobb said to me, "Ready, Ches? Remember your role as a distractor."  
I nodded, inhaling anxiously.

"Grab her," Cobb added, as if I wasn't present, shoving on his hockey mask and began walking to the backroom where the held Fischer.  
I let myself be yanked by the arm by Arthur, who now wore a black hockey mask to hide his identity.  
"Don't be nervous, Ches." He murmured into my ear as he cocked his gun and entered the backroom with Cobb.

We were performing double distractions - Eames was going to pretend to be Peter Browning, Fischer's godfather.  
They would pretend to torture him in the warehouse so Fischer could hear, but first they would show me to Fischer.  
In result, Cobb & Arthur would pretend to threaten to kill us if Fischer didn't give the combination to the safe that helped us with the inception.  
So, more pressure was on Fischer.

"Whoa, hey!" Fischer put his hands up in surrender, alarmed, as he sat against the wall.  
Cobb held a balck handgun to Fischer screaming at him what the combination was.  
Arthur slid me easily in front of his body, my back pressed up against his front, so I was facing Fischer.  
Arthur slung an arm around my neck and pointed the gun to my head.  
I added in whimpers and "let me go" to add affect.  
I bit my lip and looked into Arthur's eyes.  
He was so good at his job, it was convincing.  
For a moment I almost forgot that this was an act.

"What the hell? Chesapeake?" Fischer looked shocked & panicked at the sight of me being held at gunpoint.  
"Shit, I'll tell you & give you anything. Just let her go." He said calmly, attempting to negotiate with Arthur & Cobb.  
Arthur threw me to the ground dramatically. They both left the room. Arthur looked back but Cobb did not.  
"Chesapeake," Fischer grasped me and pushed my blond hair out of my face. "Did they do anything to you? Are you alright?"  
I gasped, "They didn't do anything. But they will."  
He looked at me quizzically, when on cue Cobb & Arthur burst through the doorway again.

"You have one hour to tell us the combination or we shoot her." Cobb yelled with intensity, storming out of the room.  
Arthur grabbed me away from Fischer & dragged me out of the room.  
Arthur dragged me out of Fischer's eye view, into the warehouse. I shrugged out of his grasp & he yanked off his hockey mask.  
Eames performed his part, screaming so that Fischer would hear it from the other room & believe it was Peter Browning.

Cobb left me and grabbed Eames, disguised as Browning to get the combination out of Fischer.  
"You make a convincing criminal." I said to Arthur.  
He smirked at me, "Who said I wasn't?"

While Cobb & Arthur dragged Eames into the backroom, Ariadne & I watched Saito, who was persistently coming in and out of consciousness.  
"Ches," She said, "I'm sorry if I'm annoying you with all my questions...you never finished your story."  
I defeatedly looked down, pausing. I blinked & inhaled.

"It's so agonizing & disturbing to think about," I closed my eyes, remembering. "I'm going to have a difficult time telling it."

()()()()()  
()()()()()

**A/N **: Hopefully you guys are liking this story!  
I love Cillian Murphy & Joseph Gordon-Levitt, such good actors.  
Please let me know if you like it :)  
**Review**?


	5. Infected Dreams

**A/N:** Sorry it's short!  
Review? :)

[5] **Infected Dreams**

"I'm afraid the baby is stillborn, Mr. Fischer. I'm sorry." The doctor explained gently.

He choked out in an exhausted voice after a moment of silence in shock & disbelief, "Is she alright? Can I see her?"  
"Yes, but she's a littleunstable right now." The doctor replied, but Fischer pushed through & the doors slid open for him.  
I sat there, sobbing. Tears rolled down my face, shaking my young, twenty-year-old fragile body.  
Fischer was older by seven years, he was stronger.  
I trembled, my face in my hands.  
He rushed in & the two nurses left the room quietly.

"Hey, hey." He said gently, kneeling next to my bed, "Ches, it's alright. Shh."  
I sobbed. I felt like if I even tried to smile & pretend everything was alright, I would burst into tears again.  
"I just thought it would work itself somehow," I attempted to choke through the sobs, "But never like _this_."  
Robert placed a hand on my arm, resisting from crying himself, "Shh, it's - it's okay. We can try again."

I shook my head. "I don't want it to end like this ever again."  
He looked at me with pity on his face & an extremely pained, sad look in his eyes.  
"I should've never regretted it. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't regretted it." I buried my face in my hands & cried.  
"Don't talk like that. It isn't your fault." Robert tried to sound firm, but he broke down. He stood up next to my bed, pulling me in for comfort.  
I latched my hands on his arm and cried into him, both of us regretting that we had ever said we didn't want a baby.

()()()()

I blinked up at Ariadne after I'd explained it to her.  
"Chesapeake, I am so sorry I even asked - " Ariadne attempted, her face innocent & remorseful, but I put up a hand.  
"No need for apologies. It's over & done with. Any other questions?" I exhaled, "I've moved on & forgotten about it."  
Ariadne asked, "What happened afterwards?"  
I looked up at her, pushing a strand of blond hair out of my eyes.  
"We had a lot of diagreements." I began...

()()()()

_Crash.  
_A champagne glass smashed to the hotel suite's floor.  
"Chesapeake, you need help. You can't decide what's reality and what's a dream. It's not healthy." Robert snapped.  
I rolled my eyes & shouted, "You think that because you're never around. You don't understand anything anymore!"

"I don't understand? Are you serious? Ever since we lost the baby, you are perpetually depressed & you're escaping reality through dreaming & sleeping hours on end. I understand you're upset about it, but acting this way - it's not healthy. I want you to be positive & carefree. You used to be that way." Fischer yelled.

"Don't blame me about being depressed. I carried your child for 39 weeks & then we lost it. How do you excpect me to react, Robert? And you don't even disagree that you aren't around! Your always away, leaving me alone to go off on business trips. The fact of the matter is that you can't face me knowing what we could've had." I replied, a few tears coming down my face.

"I'm a busy, alright, Ches? I can't help that." I said weakly, pausing & running a hand down his face, exhausted. He was silent a moment, realizing what I'd said. He knew I was right. He looked up at me. "You're right."

()()()()

"After that, we knew we couldn't go by and watch each other knowing what we could've had." I murmured.  
Ariadne was about to say something when Eames & Fischer, with bags over their heads. Arthur & Cobb shoved them into the van.  
They sedated Fischer into the 2nd dream level.  
We all headed in, Yusurf driving in the pooring rain, merceneries still on our tails.  
Arthur buckled me in and kissed my cheek, pressing the IV into my skin.  
"Wait for the kick as the signal!" Cobb yelled to Yusurf as we all were hooked up to the suitcase.

"Sweet dreams!" Yusurf said, pressing the button and all sending us into Arthur's dream.


	6. Confuse My Sleep

**A/N: **A little note before you read.  
First off, I apologize that these past 2 chapters have been short, I've been a bit busy. It won't happen again.  
The next chapter will be very long.

Also, to thoses amazing reviewers, thank you so much for your great feedback! :)  
To those asking about Ariadne - it is because I saw her as unlikeable.  
In this fic, she isn't supposed to be unlikeable, just a bit agitating at times.  
I personally did not like Ariadne as the other characters & her character isn't important in this story.  
This fanfiction is an OC fanfic, which means the plot can be changed however.  
Hopefully this answers the questions.  
Sorry for the confusion - any questions, PM me. Thanks.  
Review?

()()()()

[6] **Confuse My Sleep**

I was suddenly sitting next to Arthur, in a modern, glassy hotel lobby.  
"He's playing the Mr. Charles role, isn't he?" I asked Arthur.  
Cobb walked by, swiftly, as if he was on a mission.  
He nodded, "It's the best choice, I guess."

Ariadne was with Eames & Saito, Cobb was with Fischer.  
The Mr. Charles plan was to make Fischer believe that Cobb, who said he was Mr. Charles, was his mind's protection, that the merceneries were invaders. Basically, it was to turn Fischer against his own mind. It was difficult, but Cobb was so skilled I doubted he would fail.

I almost burst out laughing when I saw Eames's usual disguise on the job when fooling a man: a blond, weird-looking girl, tall and thin, her eyes too far apart. She was walking out of the bar that Cobb had just entered. Eames had stolen Fischer's wallet.

"The projections are already trying to find the dreamer," Arthur mumbled.  
"Should we look away?" I asked him, smoothing out my dress.  
We watched a few people, projections, staring at us. Arthur was the dreamer now.  
"No, even better. Be a good Distractor and kiss me." He half-smiled, lightening my mood.  
I leaned over and he kissed my upper lip, as he pressed his lips against mine, I smiled.

After a moment, we broke away & looked at the people, who stilled stared at us.  
"It was worth a shot." He shrugged, "C'mon."  
Arthur guided me by my arm & he walked to the elevator. He pressed Floor 4.  
The elevator doors slid open & Arthur and I quickly walked to room 421.  
Arthur put the suitcase on the bed and began taking out the charges, so he could blow the place so the dream could collapse after our mission.

He jumped up on the bed and set the charges on the ceiling in various areas.  
"You think this will work?" I asked Arthur as he jumped down from the vanity and we made our way out of Room 421 & made our way up to 521.  
"I think so," Arthur replied, "But with Saito hurt it could jepordize a few things."  
The elevator was slow, so Arthur looked at me and said, "Ches, can I ask you something?"  
I looked at his brown eyes and said, "Yeah, of course."  
"Do you love him?" Arthur attempted to say it not too boldly. He didn't look at me in the face, he stared straight forward.  
I looked at the floor & bit my lip. After a moment I replied, "No."

We snaked through the hallway and saw Cobb & Fischer at the end of it. We approached them and as Arthur & Cobb dramatically kicked the door of Room 521 open, Fischer looked and me and said, "You've been working for them the entire time?"  
I looked up at him and said, "Yes. I had no other choice."  
In a dream, you'll believe anything. It's only when you when you wake up you know something was actually strange.

"Why didn't you tell me? You always do that, not telling me something, so then I have to find out myself." Fischer said quietly.  
"I couldn't say anything. You wouldn't have believed me." I sighed.

We walked into the hotel room and I sat on the bed, watching Cobb interogate Fischer about the safe numbers, less violently this time.  
Ariadne, Eames & Saito burst through the door, Browning on his knees in defeat, Eames & Saito pointing a gun to his head.  
This was working perfectly - making Fischer's mind believe that Browning was wrong, that we were right about splitting up his father's empire.

Fischer, Browning & Cobb had a big argument that ended in the result of us going under, into Eames's dream.  
I laid down, the last one to go into the dream. Arthur weakly smiled down at me and pulled the IV cord from the suitcase.  
"Focus on the plan, alright?" He murmured as he stuck the IV in my skin and kissed my forehead.  
I was about to nod, but I blacked out before I could even try.

We were somewhere snowy, mountains everywhere. All of us were in skier's attire, with skis strapped to our feet.  
I glared at Eames through my snow goggles, "Snow? Really?"  
He grinned teasingly and shrugged, "I like the winter."

"Okay - Chesapeake, you go with Eames. Fischer, go with Saito. Ariadne, you come with me." Cobb darted out the roles to each of us.  
Eames & I would take out any of the projection merceneries. Saito & Fischer would get to the base so Fischer could get to the safe.  
Ariadne & Cobb would watch out for them.

"Let's go, love." Eames began skiing, and I scarmbled after him.


	7. A Half Remembered Dream

**A/N: **Ello! This is the 2nd to last chapter.  
I loved writing this fanfiction, so I'm going to make the last chapter good.  
Hopefully this is a longer chapter!  
Please **review**! :)

[7] **A Half Remembered Dream**

"Fischer's been shot." Eames said quickly after listening to Cobb from the radio, beginning to take off to the snow fortress.  
"By who?" I gasped. Eames looked at me unhappily. "Mal."  
"Bitch," I mumbled. When Mal was alive, she was sweet and kind; in Cobb's projections, she was insane.

We finally entered the fortress, seeing both Fischer & Mal shot.  
"Great. Just lovely." Eames muttered, getting the charges out, ready to revive Fischer.  
"Don't bother. This is it. We're done." Cobb sighed, running a hand through his hair, "We failed."

Eames looked up at Cobb, "So that's it, then? I swore we had this one."  
"Cobb, we can still try," I attempted, but Cobb shook his head.  
"Cobb, we should follow Fischer to this fourth level so we can save the mission and confront Mal." Ariadne said.

Eames, Cobb & I all swapped glances. I nodded, agreeing with Ariadne. She was right.  
Cobb & Ariadne took IVs and I helped Cobb with his, while EAmes helped Ariadne & Fischer.

I looked at him knowingly, "Be careful, Dom, okay?" I half-smiled at him.  
He smirked back at me, "I will, Ches. Don't worry."  
I slid over to the suitcase and Eames nodded at me.  
"Sweet dreams," I concluded, pressing the button and sending them into limbo.

"Shit," Eames mumbled, seeing as the mercenaries were all scrambling up to the fortress to attack us.  
"I'm going to go set the charges, quickly. Chesapeake, I need you to watch Saito & Fischer. Shoot at anyone who comes in your way." Eames slapped a handgun in my hand reassuringly. I nodded at him, ready to fight if I needed to.

Things were getting more intense. I was shot at, a bullet successfully grazing my foot, in which I yelped in pain.  
Eames was soon back and reviving Fischer. I bit my lip, putting an IV into my skin just in case I needed to go in and help.

Hopefully, Ariadne & Cobb could do this.  
After the third AED shock to Fischer, he woke up in gasp. He looked at me.  
What he did next I couldn't stop. With my IV still in my arm, he pressed the button in the suitcase.

Before I blacked out, Eames asked, "Fischer, what are you doing?"  
"I can't get the safe until I know one thing." He replied, and my vision went black.

()()()()

I stepped on the white carpet, cracking a half-broken champagne glass under my foot. This was the dream, the memory.

This was my dream; something Arthur & Cobb forbid me from going into.

The window was open and exposed New york City's lights in the nighttime and the breeze flew through the room. I ran a hand through my blond hair and bit my lip nervousy. I couldn't wake up from this one, unless someone from the prior dream level woke me up.  
The candle on the table burnt, the flame dancing.

Chairs were thrown to the ground, a result of the fight we had started.  
That night he was supposed to propose to me, but it had fallen out of place.  
I looked at the nightstand, the slender but attractive single diamond ring by the lamp.

A picture of the two of us was on my nightstand, a picture taken on the night we met.  
I sighed and rubbed my temple. This seemed too real for my liking.

He appeared, dressed in the same business suit as that night. I wore the same cocktail dress.  
"You never told me." He started, clearing his throat, "After I left."

I knew exactly what he was talking about. I never told him whether I still loved him or not after he left me, three years ago.  
"I didn't really get the chance to get a word in at all, didn't I?" I agreed.  
"I know, your right, okay? I didn't mean to leave." Fischer replied.

"You didn't mean to leave? You didn't _mean_ to? Robert, you had every intention. You just couldn't face me anymore after what you'd seen," I said, agitated, "And you know it."

He ran a hand through his hair, "I never honestly wanted you to be hurt."  
"A hell of a lot that's helped. Of course I was hurt." I replied, "I thought you were just sticking around for the baby. So when you left, after we had lost it, I was sure that you left just because I was expecting."  
Getting the truth out hurts.

"That's bullshit," He replied. "I didn't want to leave because of the 'I had no reason to stay with you'crap. It's because you were always depressed, not happy. I couldn't stand watching you hurt. How was I supposed to sit by and watch you dive deeper into depression? You refused to get help, to see a physiatrist or something. So I couldn't take it and I walked away, alright? It was a mistake."

I looked up at him and blinked. He was right.  
I was depressed. But why shouldn't I have been after tha incident?

"So, I need to ask you something." He said, locking his eyes with mine, "Do you still love me?"

It was realitively the same question Arthur asked me about Fischer.  
Did I love Fischer? After all Arthur had done for me?

Arthur & I weren't even dating, we just cared about each other more than anything.  
So - I guessed it _was_ a relationship after all. We were like extremely close friends with benefits; but I _was_ living with him.

& then there was Robert. He was the father to my first child, my boyfriend for three years. And my ex.  
He had left me, but I guess it was also a mutual agreement; we couldn't face each other knowing what we could've had.

I remember that night, after I had come back from the hospital because of the baby, I stood there knowing that everything in our relationship was coming crashing down.

()()()()

Silently, I walked out to the balcony. The hotel room was smaller but equally as expensive & swanky as the ones we'd stayed at before.  
The city lights blurred all together in the distance as I took in the air. I looked out to the extensive city. I blinked and felt like if I jumped, I'd wake up from this living nightmare. But I knew it wasn't true. I was in reality. I had lost my baby earlier in the night. This was reality.

Fischer walked out to the balcony, taking me in his arms from behind me. We leaned against the railing. I leaned up against him, comfortingly, as a silent tear slid down my face. I bit my lip and he kissed my cheek.

"We'll get by." He murmured in my ear reassurringly, but both of us knew it wasn't true.

()()()()

"I do love you." I replied, looking at him, "I honestly do. But I can't love you like you need me too. The pain is too harsh to ignore, Robert. I could try; I want to try. But even if I did, just knowing everything we could've had will depress me again." I said weakly.

"I understand, Ches." He sighed, "I know. But I still love you, no matter what your choice is."

I ran into him and hugged him tightly, burying my face in his chest and his ran a hand down my hair soothingly.  
I looked up to him and he pressed his lips against mine, and I kissed him reassuringly.

As the kiss deepened, I knew that I loved him, he was always someone there that knew me like nobody else did. But I loved Arthur, and only in dreams was when I could really love Fischer. In reality, I was in love with Arthur. That was the choice I had to face; I needed to face reality and accept my responsibilities now. This was it.

()()()()

I gasped, my eyes flashing open, to Eames standing over me, I was lying on the ground.  
"Darling, are you alright?" He asked, his British accent thick.  
I nodded at him, allowing him to help me up as I clung onto his shoulder because of my foot.  
"Where's Fischer?" I shouted as the fortress began to collapse on itself.  
"He got the safe open!" Eames shouted back, "We succeded! But the van's hit the water in the first dream level. We need to wake up!"

My eyes flashed open again, Arthur tugging at me. We were underwater, in the van. I panicked, fumbling with my seatbelt.  
Arthur unbuckled me swiftly and grabbed me, and we both followed Yusurf & Ariadne to the surface, breathing in as we hit the surface. Rain fell on my face, a refreshing feeling going through my veins. Arthur and I walked to the rocks and sat there in the rain. He grabbed hold of me to warm me up, half of me snuggled into his jacket. I looked up at Arthur, who looked down at me. His brown eyes searched mine, his eyebrows furrowed in curiousity. He half-smiled and kissed my forehead in the rain.

"Where's Cobb?" Arthur shouted in the rain to Ariadne, who was approaching us with Yusurf. Eames was sitting farther down the shore with Fischer. Ariadne and Yusurf sat down next to us and she explained, "He's still in limbo."

"With Mal?" Arthur choked out.  
"To find Saito." Ariadne explained. All three of us exchanged looks.

We hoped Cobb could do this.


	8. Time

**A/N:** Last chapter!  
Thanks for reading & reviewing! :)

[8] **Time**

My eyes flashed open again. I turned around. Arthur had just woken up behind me and was smiling. We kissed quietly, he pressed his lips into mine. The mission was successful, complete. Cobb awakened across from us, as did Saito, who nodded to Cobb and instantly made the call to let Cobb through Immigration at the airport. I looked at Fischer, who had woken up. He looked like he had a lot on his mind, as he looked out the window. All he thought he had just experienced was just a dream. He'd forget about it soon enough.

As we walked through Immigration, I smiled to myself as Cobb was approved.  
Arthur carried our luggage and me, Arthur, Eames, Yusurf, Ariadne & SAito all approvingly smiled at Cobb as he made his way out.  
Our team was going our seperate ways. I would accompany Arthur, though. Maybe moving in wasn't such a bad idea, after all.

Arthur looked at me as he carried our bags, one in each hand.  
He smiled down at me, "Ready to go, Ches?"

I linked my arm around his and nodded. We began walking out of the airport, where we got approved and warm smiles from the team.  
Arthur wasn't paying attention when me and Fischer's eyes locked. He looked slightly indecisive for a moment, like he was trying to remember something. He must've remembered the dream; he looked like he was going to ask me about it, but decided not to. Instead, he nodded knowingly at me and half-smiled. I half-smiled back, cant help but thinking about the kiss in the dream earlier. His eyes looked at my arm linked around Arthur's and looked away, back at his business cell phone, then back up at me. I blinked at him, keeping the half-smile on my face.

As Arthur and I walked past, I sighed. I leaned up against his arm as we walked.  
This was it; I'd faced it; me & Fischer's past.  
Finally, I could face my responsibilities.

I could finally figure out what was a dream & what was reality.

Or could I?


End file.
